The Knight Foundation’s report The Emergence of Civic Tech: Investments in a Growing Field has some very intersting data on the investments in “open government” and “open data” that it refers to overall as “civic technology.”
Necessity is the “mother of invention” and a place like Detroit needs all the invention it can get. Perhaps better and more disruptive access to basic data that drives service improvement could be an important element in Detroit’s recovery.
Making Open Data Accessible Inside the Firewall
Balance between control and autonomy will be critical and will vary by program size, complexity, structure, and maturity. Also critical will be how external and internal users of related data resources are supported when important distinctions related to privacy and security need to be maintained.
Duck Hunting and the Future of Customer Support
Selling new tools is easy. Figuring out how to orchastrate all the resulting business process changes — including better coordination in customer support management — is more difficult.
There is obviously a need for transparency about this problem; it’s too serious not to discuss openly but we need to do so in a mature and fact based way.
In episode 72 they discuss three project management apps they are familiar with, Asana, Trello, and Basecamp. Veteran project managers will be amused — and will recognize — Gina’s comments at the end about her “Giant Life-Defining Spreadsheet”:
Given the increasing importance of localization and access via mobile platforms it makes sense for Google to extend its reach for data to index into the potential treasure trove of local governments.
Washington Post Digital Scrapes iPage Bottom
The blinking and moving banner ads at the bottom of the pages of the iPad version of the Washington Post really suck.
Eventually management notices the disparity. So it will be with Google. This will be accelerated when advertising revenue starts to flatline and pressure emerges within Google to start charging for individual services that are currently subsidized by advertising. Stuff like Glass and driverless cars won’t help the situation. Nor will a walled-garden-in-disguise that pretends to be a social networking tool.
The Changing Culture of Big Data Management
In some ways managing “big data” tools and processes is no different than figuring out how to manage any other type of technological innovation. The technology is introduced, experts emerge and help control and shape evolving practical applications, and management eventually figures out what is worth keeping and what can be discarded.
AGA’s Citizen Centric Reporting and Government Transparency
The idea behind AGA’s citizen centric reporting initiative is straightforward: give citizens numbers about the government they can understand.
It happened to me again last night. I was working late with my laptop set up in the kitchen. I had the small flatscreen TV tuned to Soma FM via the kitchen Roku which connects to the wireless range extender upstairs. My wife called down from upstairs but I couldn’t hear her with music on. I reached for the remote and pressed the “volume down” button.
In “IT governance is killing innovation” Andrew Horne and Brian Foster argue that IT project selection needs to move beyond traditional capital investment based ROI measures. The authors think it is more appropriate to take into account project support for critical business capabilities and that such a focus will be much more supportive of innovation.
How To Make Datathons and Hackathons Sustainable
What’s a “datathon”? Here’s one suggested definition from NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge:
Planning for Big Data: Lessons Learned from Large Energy Utility Projects
What can we learn from working with large energy utilities and their data that will help others plan and manage “big data” projects?
When Federal Government Project Management Collides with the "New Normal"
Welcome to the New Normal world of the federal project manager. Shutdowns. Furloughs. Sequesters. Red tape. Delays, Retirements, Meetings.It’s not an easy task managing Federal IT projects these days.Not that it ever was. But now the problems are severe.
A Project Manager's Perspective on the GAO’s Federal Data Transparency Report
While improving data transparency for both financial and non-financial data is an important goal, any effort requiring an enterprise level shift in data formats or associated business processes can also require a substantial early peak in required resources. If in fact we need to delay implementing data transparency programs, perhaps we can use our time wisely by doing a more detailed job of research and planning.
Understanding How Open Data Reaches the Public
In the long run, traditional top-down efforts at management control may be insufficient to ensure that both agency goals and the potential benefits of open data access — including unanticipated cponsequences — are realized in an efficient and cost effective manner. While leadership by the Federal government’s IT infrastructure will be necessary, it will also be necessary to ensure that ongoing efforts to advance open data access are managed efficiently both across agencies and in accordance with individual agency and program priorities; IT staff cannot do this on their own and will have to work closely with agency management.
Why I Still Use Cursive
Why do I use cursive? The answer is simple: I like to write.